RAMSEY CROOKALL

24th  August

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 closed 1.5% higher, boosted by better-than-expected U.S. durable goods orders and expectations of a third round of QE from the Fed. All eyes are on Friday's Jackson Hole meeting in Wyoming. Man Group is the biggest riser in London, up 10% after a broker upgrade. Tomorrow, Germany's consumer climate survey figures are announced in early trading with U.S. initial jobless claims announced before the US open.

Admiral one the worst performers on the FTSE 100, losing despite pre-tax profits growing by 27%. However, according to a Thomson Reuters poll, the result was a slight miss.

Outsourcing firm Serco also fell despite saying it overcame UK and US headwinds to deliver a 12.2% rise in adjusted pre-tax profit, driven by its international portfolio.

On the rise, however, were the financials, with Man Group, RBS, Lloyds, Barclays and ICAP posting decent gains.

Advertising and marketing group WPP, led by chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, rose saying the "post-Lehman bounce-back" has continued as it posted pre-tax profit growth of 37% on sales that grew 6.1% in the six months to 30 June.

Africa-focused oil giant Tullow Oil was firmer after it reported a huge surge in sales and profits in the six months ended 30 June, helped by increased production from the Jubilee field off Ghana and higher commodity prices.

THE FTSE 100 closed                     Up       76   @       5205

THE DOW JONES AT 16.45 WAS Up 17 @ 11193                      NASDAQ COM at 16:45                 flat           @       2445                      Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1783 Brent Crude Oil          $110.49 September Delivery   Exchange Rates

GBP – USD           1.6380 GBP - EURO         1.1372